Off The Beaten Path

Learn to Live Again

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Levi hissed, his hand firmly wrapped around the wrist of the little pocket thief.

"I-I..." The kid was sweating bullets. "Uh, you dropped this!"

Levi raised a brow, plucking his wallet from the kid with his free hand. Slowly he looked it over, inspecting the contents. Appeased he shoved the kid, watching as he stumbled, stuttered some nonsense, finally turning on a heel and running.

"Kid just about shit himself." He tsked, tucking his wallet back into his breast pocket.

"You're always so crude." Erwin sighed, his eyes dancing sharp over the crowd. "Still, better than being robbed."

"Why are we on guard duty anyway?" Levi's glance met that of a military police.

"Cuz they're all-"

"Drunk off their ass." He growled, watching as a group of three stumbled, laughing raucously. "Pathetic."

"H-hey." One of the three, a sturdy female, stumbled around to face them. "Ssay that to my fa-ace you little-" She belched, her cheeks bulging. With some effort she swallowed, though the green tint to her face remained. "You li-ittle cocksuh-sucker."

Commander Smith's face went blank as he pinned them with his glare. The would be attacker stopped slouching, for a moment her gaze focused.

"Y-you're-" Her eyes widened and dropped back to Levi, the green tint of her skin becoming more visible as she paled and backtracked, tripping over herself.

"I suggest you go back to your festivities." Erwin commanded, voice flat.

"Sir." The three managed half decent salutes before moving on.

"You take all the fun out of this." Levi quipped. "I've got quite a bit of energy I'd like to burn off."

He felt Erwin's side eye. "I'll bet you do." The man sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I try to stay out of your business, Ackerman. I do. But you gotta handle that situation one way or another because, honestly, you're a pain in the ass right now. All that-" he gestured wildly, "testosterone. You could do a lot worse than Bernell. She's decent to look at, she's pretty damn tough. And," his voice dipped lower, "I know she'd never hurt you. Not on purpose."

Levi's eye narrowed, "I'm 30, Commander." He snipped, "I don't need you worrying about my delicate feelings."

"You act like you're emotionless, Levi." Erwin shot right back, "But we all know the truth of it. We've seen you, we've experienced it. You're so strong, stronger than most of us. You hold us together, you're our rock and back bone but... you feel it so much more deeply than we do."

"I-"

"No one else has a drawer full of old badges, Levi."

The knowledge hit him. His protest died on his lips. All of a sudden he could feel everyone around him, all the eyes and germs and the dirt mixing with the snow and splattering his pant leg. The odd smells of human that clung to his coat. His eyes darted around, as though he could see every bit of scum around him; people puking off the main walkway, a couple engaged sexually in a dark doorway, people shouting and spitting as they screamed and yelled and laughed.

"I've gotta go." Levi muttered, he felt itchy all over. "I need to go home. I've gotta-"

"What?" Erwin rolled his eyes, "Clean? Write notes? Plot our next move across titan country?"

Levi bristled, "Yes!"

"Well you're on a mission right now and you can't." He rocked back on his heels smugly. "And those three are exactly why we're covering the military police's work."